Ed Tracht was born in 1887 in Galion, Ohio. He left there
in March of 1909 for Lethbridge, Alberta. After his first job
in New Dayton, he went to Wilson Siding where he bought
his first farm east of the siding. A couple years later he sold
this land to John Wurtz, the leader of the Wilson Siding
Hutterite Colony. It was the first colony in the area.

In 1915, Ed married Margaret Colonette Armstrong, who was
born in Toronto, Ontario in 1886. Margaret (who later
became known as Net) received her name from family friend
Alexander Muir who wrote "fhe Maple Leaf Forever". She
moved to Lethbridge with her mother, three brothers, and
three sisters, after her father was killed in an accident at
Niagara Falls. Margaret (Net) was a telephone operator in
Lethbridge and active in the Knox Presbyterian Church.

While Ed & Net lived in the Wilson Siding District, a daughter
was born in 1917 in the Van Harlem Hospital in Lethbridge.
Two years later, in 1919, their second daughter was born
at the family home in Innisfail. After being away from the
Wilson Siding community for several years, the family of four
returned to a farm to the south of the Hutterite Colony, the
site of their original farm.

After returning to the area, we girls attended school first
at Allenby, the Hutterite School, and later at the one
room Wilson Siding School where we also attended
Sunday School. We have fond memories of the weekend
dances we attended as teenagers at White School.

During the summer, I would often work alongside my father
in the fields, driving tractor or hauling wheat to one of the
three area elevators, while my sister helped in the house.
Saturdays usually began with the 15 mile trip to Lethbridge.
We went in the family 1938 Oldsmobile for groceries at
Safeways and then on to Eatons, followed by the mid-day
meal at the White Lunch Cafe, then a movie at the Capitol
Theater.

As young adults, we moved to Calgary. Our parents continued
on the farm. We made regular trips to visit them until 1942
when they moved to Albany, Oregon. There they continued
farming.

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